Forty-eight candidates are vying for your vote in the City of Lincoln Council local election on Thursday, May 3 as Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn prepare for an important test of their popularity.

The poll in Lincoln will choose 11 of the 33 politicians that make up the council - with nine of the posts currently held by Labour, one held by a former Labour councillor who left and became an independent and one held by a Conservative.

Overall at the moment, 26 of the 33 seats are held by Labour councillors, while there are six Tories and one independent, Liz Maxwell, who left the Labour party after a disagreement in 2016.

The last elections were held in 2016 - and the Tories will be hoping to claw back some seats in a city that they ran eight years ago, and where the MP was also Conservative for seven years until Karen Lee's victory last year.

Even if the Tories win in all of the 11 seats up for grabs they will still not have enough seats to take control of City Hall - but a surge in their direction or a consolidation for Labour will have a part to play in determining which way the country is swaying politically as Brexit looms.

And that is because the local tussle is part of the bigger national picture, with Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn going head to head a year after she scraped to victory in the General Election.

Elections blogger Elections Etc is predicting that Labour will gain 200 seats, Tories lose 75 and Lib Dems gain 12. Some forecasters are predicting that UKIP could lose every council seat across the UK it currently has.

According to UK Polling Report, the Guardian's ICM poll on May 1 showed Conservatives on 42 per cent, Labour on 39 and Lib Dems on eight.

The Sunday Express ComRes poll had Tories on 40 per cent, Labour on 40 per cent and Lib Dems on nine per cent.

The result in Lincoln and across the country will be seen as a test of both Theresa May's popularity a year on from the General Election and in the aftermath of the Windrush scandal, and of Jeremy Corbyn, who has faced growing criticism over reports of anti-Semitism within Labour.

Around 4,400 council seats will be up for grabs across 150 local councils.

Jason Beattie, head of politics at mirror.com, said: "A poor set of results could cut both ways for Theresa May.

"If the Tories take a drubbing then it could speed up the Prime Minister’s departure.

"But it could also focus the minds of Tory rebels as they approach key votes on Brexit.

"They are less likely to rock the boat if they believe it could open the door to Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister.

"Mr Corbyn will want to show that his party is continuing to build on the gains made at last June's General Election.

"The Lib Dems will seek evidence they still have a strong grassroots network and UKIP will be pleased if they hold a single council seat.

"The near extinction of Nigel Farage’s arty could be one of the stories of the night."

Here in Lincoln, Labour is aiming to defend its record of running public services amid spending cuts, and helping to deliver big projects such as the £30m Transport Hub.

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And the Conservatives say they would scrap Labour's £36 a year "green bin tax", introduce one hour free parking, and only support future housing developments which come with school places, better roads and health facilities.

Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens are each fielding candidates in all 11 wards and UKIP has candidates in Birchwood, Carholme and Park.

Some wards are closer than others.

Serving councillor Liz Maxwell is standing as an Independent in Minster ward, where she won last time around as a Labour candidate - and it will be interesting to see how she performs without the backing of a national party this time around.

In Birchwood, Labour's candidate finished just three votes ahead of the Tory candidate last time around.

In Witham, the incumbent facing re-election is Labour - but the other two councillors there are Tory, so the Conservatives will be hoping to flip that seat blue by Friday morning.

The only seat up for grabs that currently belongs to a Tory is in Hartsholme.

We asked parties how they rate their chances and here's what they had to say -

Councillor Ric Metcalfe (Labour), leader of the City of Lincoln Council

Ric Metcalfe, cutting the ribbon of the new Lincoln Central Car Park

"We are working very hard to win all eleven seats, but we are taking nothing for granted and will continue to try to get our message across right up to eve of poll.

"Our campaign teams are in very good spirits, they have had some very positive messages to convey about our Labour controlled council's achievements and are getting a very good response.

"We are working hard to win all seats, the rest is entirely up to the electorate on polling day. We have a team of very good and enthusiastic candidates, if elected, they will all be a real asset to the council.

"The current Conservative government is in a real mess, it is clear that many Conservative voters are very fed up. As John McDonnell said this week: 'You can smell the undoubted odour of a decomposing Government.'."

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"Now that people have had an opportunity to see our positive manifesto for Lincoln, in which we plan to axe Labour's green bin tax, introduce one hour's free pop-in parking and support sustainable new developments in the city, we have received very positive feedback and expect to do well across Lincoln.

"The mood in our camp is very good, we have run an excellent, positive campaign, which has been very well received on the doorstep.

Garden waste (Image: PA Photo/Thinkstockphotos)

"We hope to make gains across Lincoln, helping us to implement our positive vision for the city.

"We have a good spread of candidates, including local business owners, NHS workers, a mental health worker and dedicated public servants.

"With the Labour Party mired in allegations of anti-Semitism and Jeremy Corbyn's weak response to the Russian crisis, it is clear that only the Conservative Party can provide the strong leadership, and positive visions, that our country needs."

Natasha Chapman, Liberal Democrat candidate, Park ward

Natasha Chapman

"We're predicting that our vote share is going to go up, particularly in the areas we've been able to campaign in properly.

"We're very upbeat as everyone involved has really enjoyed this election campaign, with the majority of our team being very new to politics.

"Even going canvassing in the rain ends up being fun when you're with people you get on well with.

"As we don't have the resources of the bigger parties, we're looking more to increasing our support with a view to building on that support to hopefully win next year.

"James Brown, our candidate in Carholme ward, embodies everything good about local politics. He tries to listen to as many different local groups as possible and wants to work with others to make the area he lives in as good as it can possibly be.

"Clare Smalley, who is standing in Abbey ward, got involved because she wants to inform and empower local people to be as involved as possible in making decisions that affect them.

"Both Labour and the Conservatives have been fighting massive internal issues that will most likely jeopardise each of them in certain communities.

"A lot of people on the doorstep have been bringing up our strong liberal ideas and I think we'll make good gains across the country as we have done in by-elections."

Ben Loryman, Green candidate, Birchwood

Ben Loryman

"The Green Party's job is to promote policies that will preserve our environment for our children and grandchildren.

"We are a gentle reminder of the impact climate change is having on our planet. The scientific evidence is overwhelming, but it isn't populist, and we may not win this time. However, it is essential that we keep on fighting.

"Everybody in Lincoln Green Party is committed and upbeat.

"The greatest threat to the local environment is increased congestion along Skellingthorpe Road if the Western Growth Corridor goes ahead.

House building is on the agenda (Image: PA)

"We hope that residents in Hartsholme and Birchwood wards will vote for high quality footpaths, separate cycle paths and dedicated bus lanes throughout the development to counter this.

"All the Green Party candidates would make great councillors, but John Radford has been a dedicated campaigner on local issues like intelligent street lighting and we hope that the voters in Hartsholme will recognise this.

"Those who remember 'The Troubles' are worried that Brexit could shatter the peace in Northern Ireland.

"We are very angry about the impact that the 'hostile environment' is having on the NHS. One overseas doctor who completed the Lincolnshire GP training scheme and wanted to work at a short-staffed practice in North Hykeham has been deported, and others are struggling to get their visas to stay.

"Last week we had the news that children's services at Boston are under threat due to the dangerous shortage of doctors and nurses. Please help the Green Party tell the Government to change direction on Thursday."

"In UKIP we are realistic enough to know that the Conservatives and Labour are likely to dominate this election in Lincoln on Thursday, but we also recognise that every vote for UKIP helps continue our fightback under our excellent new leader Gerard Batten.

"UKIP's team have enjoyed the opportunity provided by this election campaign to remind people that UKIP is still very much alive and on the field of play in Lincoln and UK politics.

"We have delivered thousands of leaflets in Lincoln that have reminded people that they have the option of ditching the Tories and Labour in favour of a party that genuinely believes in leaving the EU, genuinely wants an end to mass immigration to the UK, and genuinely opposes the political correctness in our education system.

Parts of the country are still very much divided over Brexit

"Every vote for UKIP helps to put pressure on politicians in Westminster to deliver the full Brexit that the UK public voted for in 2016.

"I was until recently a senior lecturer in social policy at the University of Lincoln. I have already been an adviser to David Sprason when he was UKIP's national social care spokesman, and I have been consulted by education spokesman David Kurten about the growing threat to free speech in universities.

"It looks like another election in which the Labour Party will do well enough to prevent their leader Jeremy Corbyn from facing pressure to resign.

"This will damage Labour in the long-term, as the public are unlikely to support Corbyn's hard-left policies in a General Election, which means the Tories are likely to be in power for a long, long time."

Why do we use a pencil to cast our vote?

Voters across Lincoln and the rest of the country will be heading to the ballot box for the local elections on Thursday, May 3.

In polling booths up and down the land, voters will put a cross next their preferred candidate using the pencil provided.

But have you ever wondered why its always a pencil and never a pen?

In the UK, pencils are traditionally used for the purposes of marking ballot papers and are made available inside polling stations for voters to use.

The Electoral Commission says the reason that pencils are traditionally used is partly for historical and practical reasons: with ink pens there is always a risk that they may dry out or spill.

Also, ink may cause some transfer of the mark the voter has made on the ballot paper when they fold it, thus potentially leading to a rejection as it may look like they have voted for more options than they are entitled to.

The Electoral Commission says: "The use of pencils does not in itself increase the likelihood of electoral fraud.

"Legislation has built specific safeguards into the process, such as the requirement for seals to be attached to ballot boxes at the close of poll.

"By law, campaigners are also entitled to be present at that stage and to attach their own seals if they wish.

"At the start of the count, they can then observe those same seals being broken.

"Tampering with ballot papers is a serious offence and if anyone has evidence that ballot papers are being tampered with, they should report this to the police."

So can I use a pen to vote?

Yes, the official advice from the Electoral Commission is that it's fine to use a pen OR a pencil to vote. It's your choice.

There is nothing to stop a voter from using a pen to mark their vote – there is no legal requirement for ballot papers to be marked with a pencil.

It seems that some people during the EU referendum, mostly Brexit supporters, were concerned that if they use pencil, their votes would be rubbed out.

So voters urged others to take their own pens to put a cross in the box so that it cannot be erased.

That came after a YouGov poll found that 46 per cent of leave voters thought it is likely that the EU referendum would be rigged.

There was a similar scenario during the Scottish referendum, where voters urged others to use something more permanent than a pencil.